Rachel Roney’s Prayer from October 2nd

Lord God, We don’t know what will happen in the future. Where our lives, our family, our jobs, or our health will be 6 days from now, 6 months from now or 6 years from now. It’s our nature as humans to try to control things. We know, though, that it is you who does the work, and you who forges the path we will take.  We pray for you to open us to the vulnerability that comes along with putting things in your hands and for your comforting hand on our shoulder as we walk a sometimes very scary and uncertain path. We pray that as we each walk our own faith journey at our own pace, you will be with us, encouraging us, comforting us and loving us.

We thank you for this community of faith who surround us. For our pastors, our bible study teachers, our musicians and small group leaders.  For our Stephen Ministers who walk beside people going through challenges and give those people an listening ear, a shoulder to lean on and the deep power of prayer. Thank you for our compassion cooks who bring a warm meal and a smile to someone in need or a college student missing home. Thank you for those who knit prayer shawls for or write letters to people in the hospital, nursing homes or who are homebound.  All the people who are part of this community of faith, near and far, are your work, God, your hands and feet here on earth.

We pray for Mercy Works, our mission of the month as they work to bring technology skills, hope and a sense of purpose to Syracuse inner city children and teens.

We offer a special prayer today, Pastor Mark Sommers and his family who are grieving with the loss of Mark’s sister, Susan, this past week after her long battle with cancer.  We pray for you to comfort Mark and his family as they mourn this terrible loss.  

Lord grant us the grace to experience the joys of true awareness of your presence so that we may go about our daily tasks, joyfully, knowing that you are always there with us.

And now let us take time to quiet our minds and our hearts and feel you close in the stillness. Lord, hear our individual prayers…..